I’m seriously starting to wonder exactly why I bothered. This is the typical blurb which rolls into one’s Inbox. My eye was immediately drawn to "Your car, your wallet & the planet", seeing that I’d just paid $56 for less than 40 litres of petrol. Now, let me just point out that I’d had a difficult day, and trawling through party political advertising email is the last thing I felt like doing, but where petrol is concerned, I thought I’d better see what the blurb said. The hyperlinked text takes you here. Anthony Albanese telling me the blindingly obvious, which after a looong day dealing with idiots and users, was quite easily the icing on my crap cake.

With rising petrol prices and more people wanting to play their part in preventing dangerous climate change, the Green Vehicle Guide’s new Fuel Cost Calculator is an extremely timely development.

A startling observation from a government seemingly vowed and declared to promise lots and deliver little. Whoop-de-fucking-do! I’ll just have to bolt out and buy a Fiat Punto and take advantage of the vaunted 5.8l/100km. A snip at a mere $30,000 for something less than 2 litres. The government’s green vehicle guide recommends it. I wonder what it’s consumption would be with nearly a tonne of camping trailer on the back as we head off on our cut-price, green-oriented, bush camping holidays? I believe I’ll pass and stick with the current 10 year old six cylinder, which is undoubtedly far more comfortable, convenient and efficient, especially with that trailer behind. 9.3l/100kms is good enough for me.

More than ever, it’s important to consider not only the car’s ticket price but also its ongoing running and environmental costs. For example, if you were to trade-in your 6-cylinder car for a mid-size 4-cylinder you could cut your annual fuel bill by up to a third and reduce your carbon emissions by up to a third as well.

Piss off, Minister, and the Fiat you rode in on. I couldn’t resist the temptation to use the feedback form.

Please, don’t send me emails touting expensive motor cars that I can’t afford, while treating me like a vacant-brained idiot who doesn’t understand the science and mathematics of Climate Change.

Don’t send me emails telling me what contingencies are in place to ensure voters in the Murray-Darling basin can get a drink of water. FIX THE BLOODY PROBLEM!